It may sound ridiculous at first, but Facebook is planning to trademark the word ‘face’ because it wants to stop other companies using the term in a way which damages its own brand.

The first stage of the bid has been approved and, provided they complete all the paperwork, the full trademark will be rubber stamped by the U.S. Patent Office in six months time.

Over the next six months Facebook will have to demonstrate it is using the trademark and file a Statement of Use, the next phase, ahead of final approval.

However, the general public will still be able to use ‘face’ without fear of breaking the law, reports the Daily Mail.

In Facebook’s case, it only applies to, “Telecommunication services, namely, providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users in the field of general interest and concerning social and entertainment subject matter.”

So long as Facebook pays the necessary fees, the application is likely to go through without objection, officials said. The U.S. Patent And Trademark Office has already allowed a period for objections and none were raised.